World news in brief, 8/5

Iran's new president expressed his country's support to Syria's embattled leader Bashar Assad's regime Sunday, saying no force in the world will be able to shake their decades-old alliance.

Hasan Rouhani's comments came as Syrian troops and rebels fought some of the fiercest battles in the mountains of the coastal province of Latakia, an Assad stronghold.

Syria has been Tehran's strongest ally in the Arab world since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran has been one of Assad's strongest backers since Syria's crisis began.

Morocco

King retracts pedophile pardon

RABAT — Morocco's king rescinded his pardon of a Spanish pedophile Sunday after an unusual bout of protests in the case. It was the first time in recent memory that a Moroccan sovereign had reversed a pardon.

But the Spaniard convicted of raping 11 children, named by Morocco as Daniel Galvan Fina, is believed to be in Spain now, and it was unclear whether he will be brought back to Morocco.

King Mohammed VI said he had asked his justice minister to work with his Spanish counterpart to see how the pardon could be undone in what he described as "an exceptional reversal."

Zimbabwe

Church urges peace after disputed vote

HARARE — Zimbabwean church leaders urged Sunday worshippers to pray for peace after disputed elections gave longtime President Robert Mugabe a landslide victory in the presidential and parliamentary vote.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe asked its followers Sunday to wait for "dialogue to resolve outstanding issues with self-control and tolerance."

In pastoral messages given by priests, Roman Catholic churches, whose monitors criticized Wednesday's voting for widespread irregularities, called on Catholics not to be "consumed by bitterness that leads to violence."

Preparing for possible disturbances, however, Zimbabwean police mounted extra roadblocks in the capital Sunday, some manned unusually by officers with automatic rifles. Troops were camped downtown where water canon trucks were also stationed.

Mugabe took 62 percent of the presidential vote compared with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's 34 percent, according to official results. Tsvangirai rejected the vote as "a monumental fraud" and said he will challenge the results.

Earthquakes Canada said the 5.7-magnitude quake hit about 6:20 a.m. local time. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the same magnitude and said it struck about 96 miles south of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island.